Pentasma

The game rocks like it's 1981 all over again! Pixel pushing psychedelic pulsating Defender II inspired stylised arcade retro shooter imbued with chip-tuned symphonic sonic to bedazzle and delight in spades. Defender and Defender II (Stargate) have always been my favourite arcade games of all time. Having known about Hijong's game for some time, I took the plunge and bought this arcade beauty the moment it became available (31st Jan 2020) and having already played the game in it's various guises during the later development process, I am still like a kid in a candy store and keep coming for more visual delights and arcade thrills. The game plays like Stargate but Hijong has put his stamp on the Defender formula making this game "built around" the foundations of the aforementioned classic but totally changing the enemies and wave patterns resulting in a breath of fresh air mixed in with new challenges awaiting the eager players who want more than just Defender. If I were to compare Hijong's game to a Defender clone from yesteryear then Pentasma is on par with Datastorm (1989) and that is a good thing. You have a slick presentation here combined with "tight" controls and enemies come at you in progressively more difficult waves. This is a game where you can pick it up and play it again and again and the difficulty level is fair. If you want to vary the difficulty then adjustments can be made in game to suit players from beginner to seriously seasoned alike. I would like to say that I gladly paid for this game and did not receive it free of charge and considering the asking price, you have hours upon hours of fun or if you just want to pick up the standard version, you can get it for free. Graphically this game is as good as Defender was back in the day but with way more enemies with improved gameplay. If you loved Starray, Dropzone, Defender 2000, Refender...to name but a few...you must play Pentasma and it's waiting right here for you. 10/10 in all honesty - keep on Defending!

If you liked Defender, you will LOVE Pentasma! An incredible value that oozes very fluid and responsive controls and fun as well. This game scored a 96% in my first impressions scoring.. and is a HIGH RECOMMEND! Love it!

Williams' Defender was my favourite game as a kid. Tough as nails and unforgiving to new players right from the start, Defender isn't for the fainthearted. However I soon discovered at age 10 that it was a learnable skill and once you'd mastered it a very rewarding skill too. Pentasma offers a very authentic 'Defender-style' experience and can be played in 'Classic' Defender mode from an option on the menu. However, it is when you play it in 'Normal' mode with all the extras that the developers have added, like new enemy types and new weapons that you realise how much love has been put into this game. The speed is there and the twitch game play is near perfect. All the skills I learned as a child worked, although I have a long way to go before I can master the behaviour of some of the newer enemies. But that is great because I feel like I did at 10 learning new skills and strategies to master this wonderful game. There are a few little suggestions I'd like to make to the developers. For some reason the option to edit controls on a gamepad does not function and please give us different screen resolutions, to make the play area feel less cramped. This game doesn't cost that much and I guarantee if you like old-school shoot 'em ups, you'll love this game.

It's Defender! Done right! 10/10 awesome.

An absolutely fantastic adrenaline buzzed homage to possibly the greatest game of the "golden age" of arcade and possibly all time. Instantly playable, and easy (initially) to get into blast fest ! that gets eye searingly frantic on later waves, (C'mon guys, if y'all want something non challenging and relaxing , go play animal crossing!). Probably the best pure Stargate/Defender game i have ever played and for the asking price, this is the Steam deal of the Year! The programmer obviously loved defender/Stargate and boy, does it show.! full of that old school arcade vibe and some nice extra wee touches mark this out as something REALLY special for the Defender/Stargate fan. If anyone was ever remotely into defender/Stargate as a kid and wants to relive those lost schoolboy times of bunking off school and hanging round your local arcade (or was that just me?) , then you owe it to yourself to get this absolute gem. So strap in, grab your controller and get blastin' !! Score 10/10. !!

While one's first impression when seeing Pentasma would be "it's a Defender ripoff", as was the case with me, it should be understood that the developer himself does not disagree with that assertion. Reportedly he secured Eugene Jarvis' blessing when making this game. That said, this is both a faithful clone of Defender and one that introduces gameplay elements that make for a fresh alien-blasting experience. There apparently is still a very lively Defender community out there, pushing scores further and further into outer orbit (the dev is pretty skilled too). With Pentasma the draw is even more attractive given that there are several modes that will entice players to dive in if the vanilla Defender-style fare wears on them after a bit. My personal favourite is VIP Mode, where there is a single human on the planets' surface that should be protected at all costs. The problem is, however, that if said human is killed for any reason (including by the player), the planet explodes and the player is left to wander space aimlessly while fending off an intense volley of alien shots and charges -- good luck lasting more than a minute at that point. Not easy by any means. At any rate, Pentasma is worth the buy if you're one for nostalgic shooters that to me defines the true video game experience.

Excellent version of an arcade classic: Defender \ Stargate. Smooth and fast gameplay. Best played with an Xbox controller. Addictive!

Very addictive development of the old arcade game 'Defender'. Two modes on offer, a straightforward almost clone of that game, and a version that adds all sorts of stuff. I mostly play the latter. On some waves you have to prepare the planet for humanoid colonisation, blasting various alien ground units. There are also additional weapons for your ship that can be picked up. Looks good, sounds good, has that elusive 'just one more game' addictive quality the best arcade games possess. I play it with a wired Xbox 360 gamepad, and the controls are spot on. No cons to report.

This is basically a brilliant fan remake of the arcade classics Defender and Stargate (aka Defender II). If you have any nostalgia or even a passing interest in those games, then this is a must own. Long live Williams Electronics and Vid Kidz!!

Wow if you like Defender you will love this